La Touche Cup - the Irish racing equivalent of a Mad Hatters party

In many ways it is a complete anachronism in modern racing terms, but the La Touche Cup, run over Punchestown’s legendary ‘banks course’, is a uniquely Irish event which demands a combination of the disparate arts of steeplechasing and hunting from the combatants in this single eventful race.

It also demands an element of madness among the jockeys.

It is a race which characterises the Punchestown Festival – and in some ways Irish racing as a whole – even though only two races are run over these fences during the course of the week and it defines the ‘Irishness’ of the week not only for the locals but also the increasing numbers of British visitors coming here.